Words as Weapons
by Number1brat
Summary: Iris's home was a Dark Guild, the people there were all she she's ever known. They were her family and despite hating what they did and what they will do, she still cared for them. But then she was faced with an ultimatum; join in with Guild activities or leave the Guild.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Dark Guilds were surprisingly warm. Iris had long gotten used to the dark interior, yet she hadn't gotten used to the fact that it was so warm. That didn't really make sense to her; cold looking furniture, toasty rooms. The guild was called Nox Turba, literally meaning Dark Group. They weren't a creative lot.

Iris looked down at the small group of mages, all of them having fun interacting with each other. While they were villains to the rest of the world, to each other they were family; always there and always having fun. It had been a long time since Iris had seen them as enemies.  
"Iris," Lee called, his eyes watching her with an amused expression. Of course she was hiding in the shadows, why was he surprised? "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

Iris liked being on the crossbeams of the roof. She could hide from everyone and watch everything that was happening.  
She stood in front of him, giving a small smile. "What's up?" Like usual, Lee had to strain to hear her.  
"We're attacking another guild and wondered if you were joining this time," he answered. This was what Iris hated; the fact that, yes this was a Dark Guild, not the happy family she saw them as. They were hurting innocent people.  
"I can't," she replied, causing Lee to frown.

"Iris, you know we all love you, but we can't have an inactive member. The last time we did, he turned out to be a spy and almost got us all killed," he explained.  
"I'm not a spy," Iris insisted, sounding offended.  
Lee gave her a sad smile, "I hate to give you an ultimatum, but either you take part in this or you're out of the guild." Then Lee walked away, leaving Iris alone to think over his words.

All the other guild members looked at her with pity. They knew what Lee had said, he was the Guild Master and probably consulted the others first, yet none of them made a move to comfort her. Without looking at anyone, she walked silently to her room.

It was a simple room, with just a single bed a chest at the end of it filled with clothes and sentimental items. Iris flopped onto her bed, her hair sprawling out everywhere. _Don't think about it, occupy your thoughts,_ she told herself, using her usual technique. Forget about the problem until it's staring you in the face. It's worked well for her so far.

She caught a lock of purple hair between her index and middle finger, twirling it absentmindedly as her thoughts returned to a common thought; who were her parents? She had no memory of her parents, which always left her with a longing for something she'd never known.

She wanted to scream, but there was something inside of her that stopped her. For a while she'd spoken quietly, almost afraid to raise her voice and those around her had just gotten used to it instead of trying to help her. Family was meant to help, right? Maybe that was the difference between family and a Dark Guild.

Her hands tugged lightly on her hair, tugging harder the more her irritation grew. Why was she pulled from her family? Where were they? Did they want her? _Push the problems away until they're relevant._ Since her brain refused to switch off and think of pleasant things, she blew the candle on the wall out and laid back on the bed. It was too warm to be under the covers, so she slept like that, content in the temperature. Until she woke up in the middle of the night discovering how cold it was. That's when she climbed under the covers.

Her pushing of problems away lasted a week. That was when they were attacking a guild. "Well? Are you with us?" Lee asked, the seven mages around him staring at Iris. Nine mages was all that made up Nox Turba. That was all that made up the only family she'd ever known. How could she run away from them?

She took a deep breath. "I'm with you." Lee smiled, along with the other seven who all gave their own sign of happiness. They were all happy with her choice. Lee patted her back, before shouting orders to those around him. Nerves turned in Iris's stomach and she immediately regretted her decision. She could do this. It's not like she had to kill someone.

The Guild Lee led them too was a pretty little building. The building itself was decorated with pink and baby blue ribbons with many flowers outside. Iris felt terrible, how could they attack something so cute? If the building was this cute, what would the members be like? A part of her wanted to stand up to Lee, tell him how wrong this was and how they shouldn't be doing this, but she knew that she had to stick with her Guild. Family first, right?

A man from her guild had his arm around her. "Nice that you prioritise family before personal feelings." Why? Why was that nice? Shouldn't she care about herself more? After last time, she didn't think she could hurt someone again. She gave him a weak smile, before excusing herself. Really, she knew from the beginning that she couldn't do this, that was probably why she packed all her stuff, but she thought she would've got further than this.  
"Lee," she mumbled, miraculously managing to get his attention from the Guild Member next to him. He smiled and excused himself, before walking off with Iris. "What's up?"

"I-I… I can't do this," she admitted in a tiny voice. "I can't hurt someone like this."  
Lee looked tired when she'd said that, and hurt. "I understand. But you know what this means?"  
She nodded. "Hope to see you again."  
"Me too, Iris. Me too."

Iris turned from the group and began walking away, leaving the Dark Guild to watch her frizzy hair as she left them. Of course they knew she'd quit on them. They knew it all along.  
Iris kept strolling aimlessly, not knowing where she'd end up, but not really caring. That was until she heard a scream from behind her. A scream that sounded eerily familiar. "Lee."

Quick note. This is an old work of mine, so it may not be as good as my more recent works, but I decided to post it here anyway. Also, I haven't actually finished Fairy Tail (no where near) so if there are any mistakes, that's why.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

How could she leave them like that, knowing they were walking right into a dangerous situation? She'd just abandoned everyone that ever cared about her! Through the forest she ran, going back over the steps she'd just taken, but she was too late.  
The cute building was in perfect condition, along with its equally cute members, but the surrounding area was burnt to ashes. But worst of all…

"Lee," She whispered, spotting the guards of the Magic Council holding him in cuffs. "Lee." She tried to run to him, but was stopped when two arms wrapped around her waist. "Let me go," she said, her voice still not being raised.  
"He's dangerous," the guy holding her said, his grip not loosening.  
"No he's not, he's family," Iris insisted, tears forming in her eyes. The guy frowned, his eyes going to the Dark Guild Master, then back to the girl. What connection did those two have?

"Grey, will you hold her for a second?" The guy asked, before letting go of her. Before she had chance to run again, two different arms wrapped around her. "Sorry," he apologised, watching his teammate walk over to the cuffed man.  
Iris watched the pink haired man approach Lee, praying he'd convince him to free him. The guy wore strange clothes and a scarf even in the heat of the day. Stranger still, he was being followed by a flying cat. "Please let me go," Iris begged.  
"I can't."

Minutes later, the pink haired man returned to Iris, Lee in tow with two guards of course.  
"Do you know him?" He asked her.  
"Yes," she answered, looking at Lee desperately.  
"He claims not to know you."  
"Huh?" Lee had to look away from the heart-broken look on Iris's face, but he knew he had to keep her out of trouble. She'd never done anything wrong.

"I promise I don't know her," Lee confirmed, ignoring the tears that fell from Iris's eyes. The guards nodded, before dragging him back to the other prisoners. Within half an hour, of which Iris was guarded by either the pink guy or the black haired guy who liked walking around with no clothes on, all traces of Nox Turba had vanished leaving only her.  
Iris sat on the floor, playing in the dirt and absently making shapes, but never writing words. She looked up only when someone sat opposite her. "Hey," the guy grinned, the one with pink hair. "I'm Natsu." Iris nodded, but remained silent. Natsu looked at his companions desperately, what was he supposed to do?

Next a blonde girl sat in front of her and Iris admitted to herself that she was very pretty. "Hi, I'm Lucy. Can you tell us your name?" Iris didn't answer; she didn't want to talk to the people that ripped her family apart. Lucy looked as lost as Natsu.  
"Do you have anywhere to go after this?" Iris didn't know why they treat her like a child; she was about the same age as they were. Iris shook her head, because she didn't. "Would you like to come back to our guild?" Should she? Iris closed her eyes and tried to see this from their point of view. Nox Turba was a Dark Guild doing evil things, Iris had admitted that herself. She figured Lee basically disowning her was what hurt the most.

"Okay," she whispered, not missing the smile Lucy gave her.  
"That's great!" Lucy stood up, offering her hand to Iris who took it, allowing her to help her up. Iris had been sat down for a long time. This was when she noticed how many were actually in the group.

There was Natsu and Lucy, of course, but the rest she hadn't been introduced to. There was a blue cat, and a white cat. There was young girl with dark blue hair and a pretty dress, and an older girl, older than Iris at least, with red hair and armor. There was also the stripper guy. Lucy quickly introduced her to all of them, before they started walking.

According to Lucy, there was a train station nearby which would take them straight to Magnolia. _Magnolia…_ The name sounded familiar to Iris, but she couldn't place it. Once on the train, something became very apparent to Iris; Natsu had travel sickness. He just laid up the floor in pain, being completely ignored by his friends.  
Iris was torn between helping and sulking, but Lucy reassured her that it was completely normal and that she shouldn't worry about it. So she sat and waited for the train ride to be over.

"You have pretty eyes," the young girl, Wendy, told her making her flush.  
"Thanks." No one in the group was used to such a quiet person, they all had rather loud personalities and this girl was the complete opposite.  
"You look kind of like an iris," she continued. "You have purple hair and yellow eyes, and that's the colour of them." Wendy gave her a closed eyed smile, which Iris cooed over inside.  
"That's my name," Iris mumbled, catching Wendy by surprise.

"Sorry?"  
"Iris is my name," she clarified.  
"Really? Your parents were really good at naming you." Iris nodded, what kind of person dumped the knowledge of missing parents on someone they'd just met?  
"Magnolia isn't far now," Lucy informed her. "Just a few more minutes." Lucy was right, within a few minutes they'd managed to get into Magnolia's station and off the train where Natsu immediately felt better. "Let's get back to Fairy Tail!" He announced.

"Aye!" Happy agreed, walking besides him. The rest of the group followed. Iris watched them for a moment. Was this how most normal people acted?  
"Keep up, Iris!" Lucy called. "We don't want you getting lost!" Iris doubted getting lost would be her biggest problem at this point. Despite this, she jogged to catch up with the group, keeping her head down the entire time.  
Lucy and Wendy tried to make conversation here and there, and Iris tried to keep up with it, they were trying to be friendly, but she found it all top difficult and the conversation usually dropped. Then Natsu exclaimed, "There's Fairy Tail!"

"Like we didn't know that, Flame Brain," Grey drawled, causing Natsu's irritation to grow.  
"It wasn't for you, Stripper," Natsu growled back. The got close, throwing insults at each other. Erza walked forwards, grabbing their heads and smashing them together, which effectively stopped the growing fight.

Iris was very quiet, wondering if the arguing was normal. Lucy gave her a pitying look; if that got to her, how would she handle Fairy Tail in general? Lucy gave her a soft smile. "Come on, we'll get you settled down. I feel like this has been a long day for you."  
Iris didn't smile back, just nodded. She couldn't wait to be alone and be able to think through her problems. She just knew she couldn't push these ones back.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Iris thought Nox Turba was a noisy guild, but Fairy Tail took the cake. When the group walked in, so many people began to shout, asking questions, declaring that they wanted to test their strength, some even insulting the group. Iris was very confused and sort of scared.  
"Don't worry," Wendy told her while taking Iris's hand. "They're quite rowdy, but they love each other really." Wendy gave another one of her adorable smiles, before beginning to walk again, Iris being forced to walk along with her.

As the group dispersed, Natsu going to take care of one of the challenges, Lucy trying to calm him down and Happy cheering overhead, Erza came to stand by Wendy and Iris. She smiled at Iris, who just looked at her. "Master will probably want to see you." Iris nodded and released Wendy's hand, giving a small wave as she followed Erza.

A small man sat at the bar area, Nox Turba didn't have one of those. The man wore and blue and orange, horned, stripy hat, with a matching jacket and white shirt with Fairy Tail's logo on.

"Master," Erza greeted.  
"Hello Erza, how did your mission go?" He asked, placing his cup down for a moment.  
"We apprehended the criminals. The Magic Council is dealing with them as we speak." Iris felt her throat ache and wanted to cry. They wouldn't be put to death or anything, right? They weren't that evil. "But we also acquired a new friend," Erza continued. She placed her hand on Iris's shoulder and pushed her forwards lightly.

"Hello, what's your name?" The man questioned kindly.  
"Iris," she answered quietly, which also seemed odd to the man. Fairy Tail was a loud place, this girl would never be heard if she stays that quiet.  
"Nice to meet you, Iris, now tell me, are you a wizard?"  
Iris gulped, remembering all the times Lee warned her against telling people of her magic. Instead of answering, she shook her head no. The man nodded, before introducing himself, "I'm Makarov. Do you have anywhere to stay the night?"

"She can stay with me," Lucy offered, quickly joining the conversation. "I have space and it'd be nice to have some company."  
"Would that be alright?" Makarov turned to Iris, who nodded. What choice did she really have?  
"Come on then, we better get going. It's been a long day." Lucy grinned, before taking her hand. "See you tomorrow!" Then the two walked out the guild, beginning the trip back to Lucy's.  
"I only have one bed, but I have plenty of quilts and the couch is comfy," Lucy informed her, before Iris couldn't reply, someone else did. "It really is," Natsu added.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted. "We're going to bed, go away."  
"But I don't wanna," he whined. "I wanna get to know Iris more."  
"Aye!"  
Lucy sighed, "sorry, Iris." The girl shrugged, before they continued to Lucy's apartment. It was quite nice, a lot nicer than Iris's old room, and spacious. Lucy pulled a big pile of quilts and pillows from her cupboard and dropped them all on the floor.  
"That's a lot of stuff," Natsu commented. "Why don't you ever bring that out when I stay over?"  
"Because you aren't welcomed!" Lucy exclaimed. "Now leave, we want to go to bed!"  
"Fine, fine, whatever," Natsu mumbled, turning to Iris. "I'll be here in the morning, alright? I wanna get to know you better." Iris nodded and Natsu left being as noisy as ever.

"He's such a pain," Lucy groaned. Iris smiled before picking up a blanket and tucking it into the couch. "I can do that!" Lucy insisted, trying to help.  
"Don't worry; you've done so much already." Lucy really enjoyed talking to her, and she'd barely said anything. As Iris worked on making her bed, Lucy decided to ask her questions.  
"So, you aren't a wizard, right?" Iris nodded, refusing to speak the lies. Shaking her head was bad enough. "Hmm, so you can't join the guild, that's a shame." Iris rubbed her left arm as Lucy said this, before sitting on what would be her bed for at least one night.

"You can stay here as long as you want," Lucy informed her. "You seem really nice. Do you have any pyjamas?" Iris nodded, motioning to the bag on the couch. "Right, the bathroom's through there so feel free to use it." Which Iris did, washing and changing into an old oversized t-shirt which served as a nighty.

Lucy grinned when she came out, already in her own night clothes. "I'll see you in the morning, yeah?" Iris nodded, before climbing into her bed. She closed her eyes, trying to give Lucy a hint without coming off as rude. Lucy got it, switching out the light before going to her own bed. Now Iris was alone and she was happy about it.

She pulled her left arm from under the quilt and pulled her sleeve up. On her arm, just before her elbow, was her guilds insignia; a black star with a crescent moon behind it. Every guild member had it in the same colour. Sometimes Iris wished it could have come in purple or yellow, but she never complained. It was a _Dark_ Guild after all.

The mark had begun to fade and Iris knew it would never be bold again. It'd probably just fade and be like a scar. It'd stay there forever but wouldn't be that noticeable. Tears began to form in her eyes, so she closed them. She just couldn't cry; she wouldn't let herself. Why should she care about someone who clearly didn't care about her?

But… Iris sniffled, trying to keep it quiet. Lee had looked after her for as long as she could remember. He was her father figure and she knew he cared about her. One sob escaped her mouth, followed by a hiccup. _Lucy's right there,_ she reminded herself. She couldn't break down sobbing, she wasn't completely alone. Lucy would be able to hear her no matter what.  
 _Guess I'm pushing it away again…_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Iris had never had a wake up call. The Guild members usually kept to themselves in the morning, since most of them weren't morning people. So when Natsu came charging in, screaming about making new friends, she didn't know what to think. Iris opened her eyes, not bothering to rub them as she usually did in fear of wiping the sleep away. She wanted to go back to sleep. Natsu stood at the side of the couch, accompanied by his blue cat Happy. They both looked very happy. Was it even possible to be that happy in the morning?

"Why are you still in bed?" Natsu asked, looking confused. "We're going to introduce you to the rest of the guild today!" Iris had no recollection of this. When did they decide that. "Natsu," Lucy whined, stumbling into the living room in her pajamas. "What are you doing?"  
"Taking Ilis-"  
"Iris," Lucy corrected.  
"Yeah, taking Iris to meet the rest of the guild!" Natsu announced with a grin.

Lucy sighed and talked as she fixed her hair. "Good luck with that then."  
"Why do I need luck?"  
"Iris has fallen back to sleep." As the two of them spoke, Iris indeed had. She'd laid back down, pulled the blanket over her head and fallen back to sleep.

"Iris!" Natsu shouted as Lucy walked away to get washed and changed. "Wake up! Iris!"  
"I'm up," Iris mumbled, holding back a groan. One more hour, that's all she asked for. One more.  
"Go get dressed," he ordered. "You have to meet everyone!"  
"Oh, joy," she mumbled to herself, before climbing out of bed, picking her bag up, and stumbling to the bathroom.

In the morning she walked around in a state of apathy. She didn't care what she looked like or said, or who saw her. Not until she'd woken up properly. So she'd probably flashed her underwear to Natsu, since her nighty had risen through the night staying on her belly instead of legs. But, she really didn't care. She'd face the consequences when she was awake.

Thankfully, Lucy was already finished when Iris got there, so she was able to walk right in and get washed. Her hair was a frizzy as ever, so she just put some water through it and plaited it. After that she dressed in a pair of jeans and purple t-shirt, both were too big on her. All of her clothes were hand-me-downs from older Guild Members. Since they were all men and older, the clothes didn't fit her size or body shape. She didn't care.

Ten minutes later, she was out and in a better, and more caring, mood. She smiled at the two of them before sitting on the couch, which was now free of blankets. Natsu immediately grabbed her hand, dragging her up from the seat and out the front door. "Where are we going?" Iris asked. "To Fairy Tail!" Natsu answered, accompanied by an 'aye!' from Happy.

"Here we are!" Natsu announced. Lucy had tried to follow the two of them, but Natsu moved far too quickly. "Are you ready?" Iris shrugged, it wasn't like she had a choice. Which she was right about as Natsu just dragged her straight in.

"Listen up!" He shouted, loud enough to get everyone's attention. Iris shifted awkwardly in her spot. Nox Turba was a small guild, Fairy Tail is giant. "This is Iris! I want you all to introduce yourselves!" What an unorthodox way to go about it. Iris didn't like it at all. Many people approached her, giving her their names, before leaving. She spotted the team from the day before; Wendy, Carla, Grey, Erza; and the Guild's Master. He stared at her as she walked around, a calculating look in his eyes. Iris was afraid and didn't know why.

Eventually, Natsu dragged her off to his friends and they sat down. "There are a few more," he told her. "They're just out on missions at the minute." What kind of missions do normal guilds have? Iris wondered. She doubted they were asked to kill people.  
"They actually should be back any minute," Erza spoke. "Master said they left a week ago."  
"If you hang around you'll meet them," Grey said. Iris didn't want to hang around, the way they interacted with one another was too close to home. She missed Lee.

However they did stay there and, with Lucy finally arriving, the gang just made jokes and had fun together. Many times Natsu and Grey started arguing, only to be stopped by a word from Erza. Iris liked it, they all seemed to really care about each other.  
"Did you miss us?" A loud voice shouted. Even louder cheers came as a reply. Iris watched as they got closer.

There were two people; a man and a woman; walked through the guild, stopping at a table next to Iris's. The man had short blue hair and light blue eyes. He was quite tall, but lanky at the same time. As if he'd not managed to grow into his skin. The woman had red hair, which was plaited like Iris's, and reached her bum. That was while plaited; Iris wondered how long it was when it was down. Her eyes were a beautiful light green that Iris was jealous of, and she had a petite figure. Iris figured the man dwarfed her.

"Clyde, Gaia, welcome home!" Natsu grinned, his welcome much louder than the others.  
"Figured we'd have to come home soon," the woman replied, "you guys would destroy this place without us."  
"Would not," Natsu snorted, then he suddenly remembered something. "You two, meet Iris. She's staying with Lucy. Iris, this is Clyde and Gaia." Iris was pretty sure the guy was Clyde while the girl was Gaia.

The two stared at Iris, unnerving her. "Are you okay?" She questioned timidly, afraid she'd some how offended them. The woman nudged the man, breaking him out of his trance. "Sorry," he apologised. "You just reminded us of someone we care about."  
Iris nodded and didn't pry. That was their own business; not hers.

"How did the job go?" Lucy asked with a grin. "Not as much destruction as last time."  
"Like she'd let me," Clyde snorted, hiding his sadness quickly. "Cares too much about the environment to let me."  
Gaia nodded numbly, she couldn't get over it as quickly as her husband. The resemblance was uncanny.

The conversation moved on, but neither Iris or Gaia could keep up with it. Gaia continued to stare at Iris while she was trying to ignore it. Who did Iris remind her of?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Gaia couldn't sit there long, not with Iris right there. She excused herself and made her way over to Makarov, who already knew why she was there. With a nod, he led her to one of the more private rooms and they both sat down. "She looks just like her," Gaia whispered, staring at her hands. "How is it impossible? They have the same name as well!"  
Master Makarov knew the pain Gaia and Clyde had experienced, all the older members of the guild had been through it. To lose someone they all loved so much. "What happened to your daughter?" Makarov asked.  
Gaia looked to be in despair, "you know what happened."  
"Say it anyway."

Gaia's throat burned, but she said it. "She was kidnapped by a dark guild."  
Makarov nodded. "I don't know where they found her, but I do know that their mission was defeating a dark guild."  
Gaia looked up in shock, "you don't think?"  
"It's a possibility. The looks, the name; it can't be a coincidence."  
"How can we know for sure?"  
"Talk to her, find out what her life was like," Makarov advised. "That's the only way to do it."

She nodded, elated at the prospect of having her daughter back.  
"Gaia," Makarov's voice held nothing but sincerity. "You know we all loved Iris like she was our own child, and I want this to be her as much as you do. But don't get your hopes up too much. Even if she is the same Iris, she doesn't know you. There may be small memories, but nothing solid." Gaia nodded, having already figured that out.

"Also, you can't let her know that she's you daughter."  
"Why not?" Gaia demanded.  
"She's lying to us."  
"About?"  
"Having magic. I can tell there's something big coming up that will involve her," Makarov explained. "She's going to have enough on her plate with that."

Gaia didn't like it, but she'd have to listen; Master was usually right. "Okay." She turned from him and returned to the group and her husband.

She smiled at the group, noticing Iris wasn't there anymore. "Where's Iris?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows.  
"She's right here!" Natsu exclaimed, then looked confused. "Wait, she was just here. Where'd she go?"  
"You lost her!" Lucy accused. "How did you manage that?"  
"I didn't think she'd run off!"  
"You never think!"

Iris had gotten tired of sitting there and watching them mess about. She didn't know any of them. All the people she knew were in jail. "I should be with them," she grumbled, throwing the pebble across the lake; it skipped thrice before stopping. Iris had found a lake and a large rock that she sat on. "I'm a part of that guild, why aren't I with them?"

Around the lake the dirt had turned to mud. She found a stick and began to write in it. There were many things she wanted right now, but with only a stick and a small bit of mud she couldn't. Carefully, she spelled out flat pebbles. She'd used all the pebbles around her and couldn't be bothered to get up to look for more.

In the mud, a pile of pebbles appeared. Iris had awesome magic. All she had to do was write something and she'd get it. Obviously there were limitations. Like things with her past; she'd once wrote a photo of her parents. It had to be something she could see clearly in her mind. She never got food from it, though she could, because it didn't taste that great.

Another pebble thrown across the lake, bouncing only twice. Iris sighed. She wanted to see Lee so much. When Iris began to feel like this was the time to deal with the problems she'd pushed away, a large flash of light appeared and something hit the water. Iris struggled to get her sight back and once she did, she realised the lake had started flooding. Already it reached her ankles.

In the middle of the lake stood a woman. She had a purple hair, light like a Lilac while Iris's was more of a violet colour, that stuck out on edge. Her skin was pale and she looked like death. Iris wouldn't have been afraid if the woman wasn't looking directly at her. She began walking towards Iris, who started walking backwards. The water around Iris's ankles started moving harsher, as if they were trying to trip Iris up. They did.

Iris fell forwards, landing on her hands. At this point the water was very high and her head was the only thing dry. When she looked up, she found the woman who looked much scarier up close. She grabbed hold of Iris's shirt and dragged her up and close to her face. The woman just looked at her, studied her. Iris was terrified and tried to look anywhere but at the woman.

"Do you know the Leith's?" She demanded, her fingers cold on Iris's skin.  
"No," Iris answered, still avoiding eye contact.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes, I promise. I don't know them."

The woman dropped Iris, whose head bobbed underwater momentarily. Once her head came up again, the woman was gone and the water began receding. Within five minutes it was gone entirely, the mud the only sign it'd ever been there. Iris sat in the mud in shock. The only thing she could think of was reporting this to Fairy Tail. She remembered Nox Turba used to take care of small problems around the area, wouldn't Fairy Tail want to sort this out?

She stood up and began to run back to the guild, not noticing the odd looks she got for being covered in mud and water, among other stuff. When she entered Fairy Tail every eye was on her, granted to flung the doors open.  
"I found her!" Natsu announced. Lucy gave him an odd look, before looking back at Iris.

For a moment, Iris stood there getting her breath back. "Where's Makarov?"  
Erza was next to her. "He's just left, he should be back in an hour. You can talk to him then."  
"This is important," she insisted.  
"You can tell me, I'll let Master know," she offered.  
Iris wasn't sure, but Natsu and Lucy were next to her.

"Why are you all messy?" Natsu asked. "And you look shaken up, are you okay?"  
"I was by the lake," Iris answered. "But I need Makarov."  
There was a hand on her shoulder and Iris looked behind her to see Gaia's smiling face. "Come with me, I'll make sure Master knows everything afterwards."  
"But I can't, I need to tell Makarov," Iris repeated.

At this point they'd given up on trying to convince her, they just wanted to calm her down. "Iris, come on, it's alright," Lucy cooed, her arm around Iris's shoulder. "Nothing's wrong, we're here to help you."  
Iris wasn't hysteric or in tears, she was just shaken up. That woman sounded so driven, like if she didn't find the Leith's at that moment she was going to kill some one.

"I'm fine," Iris reassured. "Just shaken up is all."  
"Iris," Erza was sat down in front of her and spoke in a serious voice. "If there's something that's shaken you up, it's bound to be a danger to those in Magnolia. If you tell us what it was, we'll be able to sort it out before anyone gets hurt."  
"Master's back!" Someone announced, followed by a _whack!_  
"Don't announce my return," Makarov scolded, before standing by Erza. "Now what's going on?"

They all looked at Iris, who felt nerves bubble up. She didn't know where to begin, but she felt like one thing in particular stood out. "Do you know the Leith's?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

None of them spoke. They all just looked at Iris. Finally, Makarov answered. "Yes, everyone in this guild knows them. Why?" Makarov didn't want to straight out say who they were in case he was putting his guild members in harm's way.  
"Someone was looking for the Leith's," Iris replied. "She said 'do you know the Leith's?' and when I said no, she disappeared."  
"What do you mean 'disappear'?" Grey asked.  
"We were in the water and my head went under and when I came up she was gone," Iris explained.

"What did she look like?"  
"Where were you?"  
"Why were you in the water?"  
"Are you okay?"

Many questions were shot at her and she struggled to keep up, so instead she focused solely on Makarov. "Sir?"  
"What can you tell me about the woman?"  
Iris didn't have to think hard, she hadn't stopped thinking about it. "She appeared in a flash of light and the lake started to flood. She had purple hair and walked over to me. The water tripped me and was getting deeper. When she left the water went too." Iris spoke slowly and quietly. They all struggled to listen.

"Then she has water magic, like Juvia," Lucy confirmed.  
"I believe so."  
After that, Makarov left explaining that he had to sort things out.  
"I'm gonna look around the guild," Iris excused herself, not feeling comfortable with them all.

Instead, she did how what she said would do; she looked around the guild. It was an amazing guild, much bigger than Nox Turba, and had so many different jobs on the board. There were rescue jobs, and finding ones, escorting, and detective ones. There was also a whole other board dedicated to news around the jobs. So if the job had been helping a small village that was being terrorised by animals, it'd give you news on how they doing and whether or not the animals stayed away.

Iris scanned over it, two words catching her eyes. _Nox Turba._ Her eyes grew wide and she read it over.

 _Dark Guild, Nox Turba, has been captured by Fairy Tail wizards. The magic council has them in custody and will be finishing interrogation soon. From what's been discovered so far there were originally nine wizards in the guild and only eight in custody. There is still one more out there, keep on the look out for this guild mark._

Underneath was a picture of Nox Turba's mark; the one fading on Iris's left arm. Iris covered hers with her arm, so far no one had noticed it because it was quite pale. But Iris knew from experience that during cold weather it'd get bolder and now that people were on the look out for it. Iris couldn't afford for anyone to see it. But what could she do now? She didn't have any other clothes to wear, except her pajamas.

Nobody had noticed it yet, so she'd just have to hope that- "What are ya looking at?" Natsu asked, standing behind Iris.  
"Huh?" Iris jumped in shock, her hand latched onto her arm.  
Natsu's eyes narrowed, "Nox Turba, huh? Isn't that the guild we caught the other day?"  
Iris shrugged, drying not to seem guilty of anything.  
Natsu nodded, "It was. The Guild Master, didn't you say you knew him?"  
"U-Uh."  
"Don't worry, we all know guys who've done wrong. You aren't like that, so it's fine."

Iris didn't know what was happening, either Natsu was really stupid or she wasn't as obvious as she thought she was.  
"They're keeping them nearby, you know," Natsu informed her. "If you want to see him, I could help."  
"W-why would I want to see to them?" Iris stammered.  
Natsu looked confused. "You said he was like family, if you see your family the same way I do, you'd want to see him. So, do you?"  
Iris nodded, looking down. There was no point denying it. "I really do."

Natsu grinned, "then we'll go tomorrow. I'll pick you up from Lucy's tomorrow."  
She gave him a shaky smile, "thanks."  
"Now, do you have any other clothes to wear? You're drenched and muddy," Natsu reminded. Iris had completely forgot.  
"No."  
"Alright, let's go ask around. I'm sure someone here has spare clothes that would fit you." Natsu looked Iris over, "maybe Wendy."  
"Hey!"

Natsu grinned. "That's the loudest you've ever spoke!" Iris blushed, she hadn't spoke loud, but compared to her usual tone...  
"Shuddup," she mumbled, ducking her head. "Are we finding clothes or what?"  
"Sure we are, but really I don't think anyone's clothes will fit you."  
"What about Gaia?" Iris suggested, watching as Natsu's face lit up.  
"Yeah! Gaia's tiny like you!" He exclaimed.

"Fire Breath!" Gaia shouted, "Shut it!"  
"In your dreams, Tree Hugger!"  
Iris giggled lightly, how many nicknames did this place give out?  
Natsu heard her giggle, which was kind of cute, and beamed before grabbing her hand. "Gaia will hate me for an hour now, but I doubt she'd say no to you! So, you'll have to ask."

With no choice, because Natsi was dragging her, she was in front of Gaia asking. "Um, could I borrow some clothes?"  
Gaia gave her a warm smile. "Sure. Clyde and I were heading home now anyway. Clyde! We're going!"  
"Got it!" Clyde turned to say something to the man he was talking to, before running over to Gaia and throwing his arm around her shoulder.  
"You two coming?"  
"Iris is borrowing some of my clothes," Gaia explained.  
"Good idea, the muddy look isn't working for you."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A large hand on Iris's mouth was what woke her up. Her eyes shot open to see Natsu's face uncomfortably close to hers. He held his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. "Go put some black clothes on," he mouthed, letting go of her. Iris nodded, her memories from the day before slowly coming back, and grabbed her bag from the floor.

Thanks to Gaia she now had a pair of black skinny jeans and a long sleeved black top, though she hadn't planned on wearing the two together. All the shirts she picked were either long sleeved or paired with a jumper. Then again, she didn't take that much. Iris hurried out after Natsu, who led her down the streets of Magnolia.

"Here we are," Natsu informed her, motioning to the building in front of them. "Not many people know about this. Its secret so no one tries to break them out." Iris held back the _how do you know then?_ and instead stared at the building. Honestly, she would never have guessed that was where Nox Turba was being kept. It was a just a normal looking hall.  
"The prisons are underground," Natsu added after seeing the look on her face. Iris didn't answer, just started to walk towards the building.

Natsu easily caught up with her and stopped her. He pointed to the windows and corners of the roof. There must be some sort of security that Iris couldn't see. She nodded and allowed Natsu to lead the way. He crouched down, having her copy, and began to crawl closer to the building. Natsu moved swiftly, forcing Iris to do the same, and sneaked inside through a window, which he smashed.

"Move quickly," he ordered, "and stay close." Usually there weren't many guards at this time, only on the top floors, so Natsu wasn't too cautious, yet he was still careful. Iris soon discovered there were not many levels as they got to the bottom one, which had rows of cells in a line. "They should be around here," Natsu told her. "I'll keep a look out, you go see them."  
"Thank you."

Iris wanted to let Natsu know just how grateful she was, because a simple thank you didn't really let him know, but they didn't have all the time in the world and she had to make this quick. She ran down the hall, checking each cell until she came across Lee.  
"Lee!" She gasped, a huge smile making its way on her face. She didn't care that he was dirty and roughed up, all she cared about was seeing him again.  
"Iris?" Lee's eyes widened, "what are you doing here?"  
"Natsu helped me," she answered, unable to get rid of the grin. "He's been really helpful."

But Lee wasn't happy, not like Iris was. He was scared. Why was she here? Did she not realise the danger she was putting herself in?  
"Go home!" He hissed, making shooing motions. "You're in danger here!"  
Iris recoiled slightly. "What?"  
"You're going to get hurt, go home before she comes!"

"What are you talking about?" Iris demanded, her voice rising only slightly. She took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. It'd been a long time since she'd shouted and she didn't want to start again. "What are you talking about?" Her hands were wrapped around the metal bars, the coolness harsh against her warm palms.  
Lee was directly in front of her, his hands gentle on hers. "There's a lot you don't know, Iris. We've kept you in the dark for a long time."  
"Then tell me," she begged.

He sighed. "It's too late now, just..." He looked at Natsu, who had gotten closer when he'd heard a commotion. "Find who you can trust and who you can't. You have to distinguish between those people, okay? If you can't..."  
"How am I supposed to know?" She questioned, sounding desperate. "I've only ever spoken to eight people and I've always trusted you guys!"  
Lee looked distraught as he rested his palm against her cheek. "Wrongly so, too. We're not good people, Iris, surely you know that? After what we made you do-"  
"Don't," she whispered. "I did that. You didn't make me."

"But we didn't stop you." He smiled sadly. "I know that you believe your parents died when you were younger, but they didn't. We took you when you were very young."  
Iris's head pounded and she felt the whole room spinning. "No. Why would you do that?"  
"You have strong heritage. All of your family was known for being powerful wizards, and your magic is amazing," he replied, speaking softly. He was afraid of hurting her anymore. "We thought we could make ourselves known on the map. Become one of the big Dark Guilds. I never planned on gaining a daughter."

"Do you regret it?"  
"Never, and I never will," he promised. "There's one more thing I have to tell you, then you have to promise me you'll leave."  
"What, no."  
"You, Natsu, right?" Natsu nodded. "Promise you'll take her away and never bring her back."  
"I promise," Natsu replied without hesitation.

"Natsu, no," she protested.  
"We weren't the only ones after you, there were others and you'll meet them. Maybe you already have. You'll know because they're looking for your family. All they know is your family name." Lee's words were rushed.  
"Lee..."  
"Leith. Your last name is Leith," Lee pressed on. "If someone's looking for that name, get away. Do you understand me?"  
"Lee."

"Take her now, Natsu," Lee ordered. "Don't let her come back."  
Natsu took hold of Iris's hand, who surprisingly didn't struggle. Her mind was racing and she worked hard to push her thoughts away. By the time she did, Natsu already had her away from the building. Outside the sun had already risen and Iris knew Lucy would be wondering where she'd gone.

Iris began to walk on her own and Natsu let her go. "You have magic then?"  
Lee had let the cat out of the bag now, why deny it? "Yes."  
"And you were a part of that guild we beat?"  
"Yes."

Natsu fell silent then and just walked alongside her. Leith... Her last name was Leith? But that would mean Gaia and Clyde were her parents, but as far as Natsu knew they never had kids. He was determined then; he'd have to speak to them.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Natsu, as Iris soon discovered, had a big mouth. When they arrived back at Fairy Tail, Lucy had been a bit upset that she'd been left again and started demanding Natsu told her where he took Iris. Natsu started arguing back, claiming that it was none of his business and the next thing Iris knew, the whole guild was in a brawl. She doubted half of them knew what they were even fighting about.

Makarov put a stop to it easily and Iris wondered how often did he have to do that. "Who started it this time?"  
"Natsu!"  
Makarov sighed and had a look that said why am I not surprised? he made his way over to Natsu, who had settled down with some of his friends. There was Iris, Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla. Erza was not far behind Makarov, while Grey made his way from the other side. Grey figured the interesting stuff would happen around them.

"What now, Natsu?"  
Natsu grumbled, "Lucy was trying to make me tell her something."  
Makarov turned to Lucy, "was it important enough to get that response?"  
"Yes. He took Iris somewhere this morning and I want to know where, especially because she seems shaken up," Lucy explained.  
They all looked at Iris, who had sat down with her head in her hands. She was scared more than anything, if her last name was Leith, that meant that woman was after her.

"You said you knew the Leith's," Iris said suddenly, catching them off guard. "Who are they?"  
"I can't tell you if it puts them at risk," Makarov told her.  
"But I need to know, they won't be put in any harm," she promised.  
Makarov looked at her, then at Natsu. "I think it's time you explained where you went."

Iris really didn't want him to tell and Natsu didn't want to expose so many of Iris's secrets, but he had to tell some of it. So he did.  
"We went to that secret prison thing that the Magic Council has." The replies weren't good, but Makarov spoke over them all.  
"Why?"  
Natsu looked at Iris, silently asking if she wanted him to tell.  
"I wanted to see my old guild master," she admitted, deciding it was best to come from her mouth.  
Lucy frowned, "I thought you said you didn't have magic."

Iris shrugged, "I lied."  
Makarov, who already knew this, simply asked the question to sate everyone else's curiousity. "Why?"  
"My guild master told me to," she mumbled, her voice getting quieter with every question.  
"Which guild were you a part of? It must have been a Dark Guild if you were visiting him in prison," Erza noted.  
"Nox Turba," she answered, "the one you guys caught the other day."

It did make sense and they wondered why they hadn't sussed it all out. "Is there anything else?" Makarov knew there was something else, he just wanted them to tell him and sound polite about it.  
Natsu looked at Clyde and Gaia, "I need to talk to you two."  
"Okay," Clyde said, before the three left.

Iris sat in the middle of the mages, who all now knew she was a mage and that she'd been lying to them. "Don't worry," Lucy smiled, "we understand why you lied and won't hold it against you." She then sat down next to Iris, Wendy sat in front with Carla, Happy had followed Natsu, and Grey sat on the other side of her while Erza sat by Wendy. Makarov remained standing.  
"What kind of magic do you have?" Grey asked, casually taking his shirt off.

"Do you have any paper and a pen?" She questioned, thanking Lucy when she passed her some. Iris hated being put on the spot, she could never think of anything, so, because of that, she wrote the simple item P.E.N. The wizards watched in amazement as a pen appeared on the paper. She now had two pens.

"That's amazing!"  
"Wow, that's so cool!"  
"Are there any limits?" Makarov asked.  
"Some, I have to envision it clearly, and the bigger and more difficult the item is to get a hold of, the more it drains me," she replied.

Makarov nodded. "Iris, would you like to join Fairy Tale?"  
The group around her tried to encourage her, they would love it if she joined. Iris frowned and rolled her sleeve up. "This was my old guild's mark," they all leaned in to see it. "It's not faded properly yet. Sometimes it looks like its gone, but other times its bold. I don't think it's right to join a new guild when my old one was disbanded recently."  
Makarov smiled, "of course. The offer always stands though."  
"Thank you."

Natsu stood with Clyde and Gaia off in a corner on their own. Neither Clyde nor Gaia had any idea what he wanted, but considering he was with Iris before this, Gaia had her suspicions. As did Clyde, but he tried not to get his hopes up.

"What's up?" Gaia asked, "does Iris need some more clothes?"  
Natsu wasn't one to beat around the bush. "Iris is your daughter, isn't she?"  
Neither of them knew what to say, how could he be so sure?  
"How do you know?" Gaia's voice was full of hope. If he knew for sure...  
"We went to see her old guild master, he said her last name was Leith and that they stole her as a baby," he explained. "I didn't think you ever had a child, but if someone had their child stolen it wouldn't be something that you'd talk about a lot."

They didn't hear most of the sentence. Leith... Kidnapped by a Dark Guild... It had to be their Iris! Clyde almost shouted in joy, before he actually remembered what Natsu had said. "Old guild master?"  
Natsu nodded. "She became a part of the Dark Guild, she actually cares about them."  
Clyde could put up with that, he did have his daughter back and that was all that mattered. "We have to tell her!"

"No." The last thing either of them expected was for Gaia to say no. Natsu was excited and she wasn't his child.  
"What?" Clyde asked, his jaw slack. "Why wouldn't we tell her?"  
"Master told me not to," she mumbled.  
"You knew?" Clyde felt slightly betrayed that his wife hadn't talked to him about it.  
"I had a hunch," she replied, looking Clyde in the eye. "But Master said she has big things coming if she has magic, which she does. Telling her only adds more to her plate and she's confused enough as it is. We'll tell her once things settle down."  
"But-"

"The guild master said there were people after her," Natsu recalled, stopping the two of them. "Gramps is usually right, I'd listen to him."  
"But she'll need us," Clyde insisted, not wanting to lose her again.  
"She'll have me," Natsu promised. "I'll help her through whatever's coming."

They both wanted to look after their daughter, they'd missed out on so many years of doing so, but they could wait a bit more if it meant keeping her as safe as they could.  
"We're relying on you."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Iris no longer knew what to do. All the wizards around her seemed thrilled at the fact that she also had magic and they all immediately assumed she was a part of the guild. It got annoying, and awkward, when she had to explain that she wasn't. She tried to leave out the part where she was an ex-member of a dark guild, but eventually she'd had enough and just straight out told them.

Funny enough, they thought it was cool. Iris didn't understand why. It'd been a few hours since her and Natsu had returned that morning and his team were all looking for a new mission to go on. Iris wanted to tag along, but wasn't sure if she was allowed, considering she wasn't a part of the guild. So she asked.

"Excuse me," she said, having to repeat herself a few times to get Makarov's attention. "Am I allowed to take a job from the board?"  
Makarov didn't look sure. "Only guild members are supposed to. You could join and then you'd be able to take one, or you could join with another member and go on one in a group."  
"Yeah! You should do that!" Natsu exclaimed, appearing suddenly and wrapped his arm around her. "You can come along with me!"  
"Okay," Iris agreed, "have you picked out a job?"

He nodded, neither of them noticing as Makarov slipped away, and handed the flier to Iris.

 _Missing kids!  
Location- small island off the coast of Fiore  
Reward- 50, 000 jewels  
Extra- whole village is surrounded by forests where the children have most likely disappeared to. Strange noises heard at night. Need assistance desperately. _

That was not the kind of missions that Nox Turba had. They were probably the ones being asked to take the kids. "That okay?" Natsu wondered, receiving a nod. The dragon slayer grinned, "come on, Happy!"  
"Aye!" The blue cat chimed, quickly joining the two of them.

Together, the trio made their way down to the docks, where they easily managed to find a boat willing to take them. They both agreed that it was a bit pricey, but they also figured the reward money would cover it easily. Natsu was completely fine, until he took a step onto the boat. Immediately his motion sickness kicked in. Happy continued on as usual, and Iris had to reassure the captain that this was completely normal and that he was fine.

An hour of Natsu grumbling, Happy singing joyful little songs to himself, and the Captain joining in. That was what Iris had to put up with. She was overjoyed when she spotted an island. "Is that it?" She asked, hoping it was.  
"Aye, miss," the Captain replied, "your friend will be good as new once he gets there." Natsu groaned once again.  
Happy continued his song. " _Eleven bottles of beer on the wall, eleven bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, ten bottle of beer on the wall!"_

Iris's groan matched Natsu's. She was not looking forward to the trip home.

"We made it!" Natsu announced, already back on his feet with Happy bouncing around him.  
"Thanks," Iris mumbled to the Captain, who had already started to prep the boat for the voyage back.  
He shook his little bag which held the money he'd just earned, "thank you, miss!" Iris forced a smile, before turning to Natsu.  
"Now what?"  
"Into the village, someone there will tell us more," Natsu informed her, beginning his walk already.  
Iris followed behind, quickly checking for her notebook and pen. Lucy had brought her one and rushed to give it to her before the trio left. If she needed anything, it would be easy to write down now.

She'd also got changed before going, since she saw no need to hide her guild mark anymore. She pulled on a shirt from Gaia, a pretty floral one that Iris did not like at all due to the bright colours, and an old pair of jeans that were her own. She wore her same worn converses and had pulled her purple hair back out of the way. A part of her hoped she'd fall in mud during the trip to dull the colour of the shirt down a bit.

"You must be the wizards from Fairy Tail," a woman grinned, giving both of them a hug before they could react. "You are, right?"  
Natsu nodded, motioning to his mark. "She's not sure if she wants to join yet, so she'd tagging along until she decides."  
She grinned, relief showing on her face. Her face looked aged, but her hair was a vibrant blond, like Lucy's. Iris figured the stress of kids disappearing had aged her some. "That's wonderful, we're really grateful for you coming over."  
"We're here to help," Iris replied, giving a small smile. "Just let us know where to start."

"Follow me then," she instructed. "We have a meal prepared for you, since it's getting late now, and we have a couple of rooms ready, so you don't have to share unless you want to."  
"A meal? Awesome!" Natsu grinned, following the woman eagerly. "Is it ready to eat now?"  
"Is there fish?" Happy wondered.  
The woman laughed, "yes and yes, don't worry. This meal is for the three of you. Our way of saying thank you."

Iris found it odd that they were being thanked before they did the job, but she didn't question it. This was her first _legal_ job.  
"Please welcome the Fairy Tail Wizards!" She announced as we entered the room, causing the crowd to start clapping. Iris noted the lack of children, which was a normal thing to her, but to these it must have been terrible. Some of them looked like they'd be crying recently, which made total sense.

The three of them were sat at the head of the table where a huge selection of food was placed in front of them. Natsu and Happy loved it, they collected huge plates full and dug right in. Iris was slightly disturbed at how they ate. She picked up whatever was nearest to her and began to eat it, smiling at whoever looked at her.

"Iris, try this," Natsu suggested, his words muffled by the food in his mouth. Iris gave him a tightlipped smile and took the meat from his hand, taking small bites from it. It was delicious. The night soon came, the hours spent with Natsu and Happy eating and then feeling sick. After the three of them were led up to a room, which had two separate bedrooms in it. One for Iris, one for Natsu and Happy.

"That was great," Natsu grinned, resting on the couch.  
"I wouldn't have been able to tell," she mumbled, smiling to herself.  
Natsu didn't reply to it, just stood up. "I'm getting to bed. We've got a lot of ground to cover in the morning. Night."  
"Night," she replied as the two left. When they did, Iris made her way around the room and turned all the lights off. Since it was a low roof, there were no places she could climb to, so she left the room.

It was quite easy to get to the roof and Iris enjoyed sitting on the edge and looking out over the village. It was tiny. Just a small area with miles of trees on all sides, except for one which had the ocean instead. Iris failed to see how they'd be able to find the children in all that space. There were so many places for them to hide and be hidden.

Iris didn't like those thoughts and struggled to push them a way. The only thing that got rid of them was Iris falling asleep.

Iris woke the next morning to the soft light from the sun. She sat up, stretching, when she realised how close she was to the edge. She was honestly surprised that she hadn't fell off during the night. After a few hours where she did nothing but sit and enjoy the sun, Natsu found her.  
"Why'd you sleep outside?" He grumbled, holding his hand out for her.  
Iris shrugged, grabbing his hand to help her up. "Felt like it."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Iris had already sussed the forest out the night before, and she was right about it. It was practically impossible to remember the way around and Iris figured the only way they'd be getting out would be by having Happy fly up and guide them. Natsu seemed cheerful as always, looking eagerly for any signs of the kids. Unfortunately, there were none and Natsu's spirits soon dropped.

"Where could they be?" Natsu wondered, worsening the sick feeling in Iris's stomach.  
"I don't know, Natsu," she replied, watching Happy as he ran off in front of them. "They could be anywhere." _They could be dead._  
"We'll find them, I know we will."

"Hey, Natsu!" Happy called out, "come-" his words cut off abruptly, causing Natsu to panic.  
"Happy!"  
Iris heard some giggling that sounded like children, and stopped as she was chasing after Natsu, who was chasing after Happy. It stalled him too.  
"You get Happy," Iris ordered, "I'll check this out."  
"But-"  
"This is the first sign we've heard all day, we can't let it slip away and we can't lose Happy. We'll rejoin later."

With no time to respond, Iris sprinted off, running until she was out of breath. Then she listened again. She took off in the direction of the voice. The forest was alive with noises earlier, but now everything seemed silent. "Hello?" She called out, spinning on her heels. "We're here to help!"  
She heard a cry and took off after it, finally arriving where the voices came from. But nobody was there. She searched, poking through the bushes around her when she found it.

Her heart sank looking at it and bile rose up her throat. She had been right, in the end. The children had been killed, only to be found my a complete stranger, their bodies mangled in bushes. Iris wanted to scream. The children hadn't done anything wrong, why were they punished like this? It was in that moment she vowed to get revenge on the monster who had done it. It was also in that moment a sharp pain erupted from the back of her head, knocking her out momentarily.

She opened her eyes, her body against the floor, and looked up at her attacker. A man and woman, both dressed in green with their faces concealed. Her head felt fuzzy, but she pushed through it. Her hands scrambled for the book and pen in her bag. With shaking hands, she began to spell. There was no way she could hold them off now, no way at all.

Iris finished her word as something heavy was once again hit off her head. This time it knocked her unconscious.

When Iris came to, she was chained to a wall somewhere dark. Wait, no it wasn't dark, her eye sight just hadn't come back properly yet. The room wasn't dark, Iris knew dark, it was filled with harsh lights, making the woman in the middle look pale and much harsher than she did the last time Iris saw her.

"Iris Leith." Iris watched the woman speak, her heart hammering in her chest. "I had a funny feeling you'd be the one I needed in the end, should have took you back at that pond. Would have been much easier, but you're here now." Iris began panicking, the lilac haired woman was scary enough when Iris wasn't her enemy, this time was so much worse.

The woman's beauty seemed to scare Iris all the more. Her dress was much more elegant this time and her hair was pinned up, that was probably her _queen of the world_ outfit. Iris finally got a look at her face. While it was as pale as it was last time, it was much harsher. Her cheek bones really stuck out and her makeup was made up of very cool colours. Her eyes were grey and Iris took care to avoid them.

"Not entirely sure why I need you," she admitted. "My partner claimed you were essential, so here you are." Iris only nodded. "He's out at the minute, dealing with some pesky flies, but he'll be back soon and we can sort everything out."  
"Flies?"  
The woman's smile was cruel. "Yes, you know wizards from Fairy Tail? Many people call them flies. And we have two annoying ones who insist on trying to ruin this, a silly cat and pink haired boy."

Iris's breath caught in her throat. Natsu and Happy. She had to help them. But how would she help herself? If only she could get her hands free...  
"I know who you are, of course," the woman continued. "I do my research, you know. Which means I know that as long as you can't use your hands, I'm safe. Unless you learned to write with your toes, of course."

"So, w-what's your plan?" Iris questioned, trying to calm herself down.  
"I'll be controlling this world."  
"World domination? Original." That was something Iris had learned through messing about with some of her old guild mates. When she felt threatened and scared, she didn't think through her words properly.  
"This world belongs to me, always has. It's simply being returned after all these years," she explained with a sickly sweet smile. "Is that wrong?"  
"When it involves killing innocent children, yes."

"They found us," the woman snapped. "How could I let them return after that?"  
"Easily. They're children, how could you even-"  
She interrupted Iris. "Don't talk like you're any better than me! I know what you've done!"  
Iris recoiled. "W-what?"  
"Don't act dumb. I know what you've done and I can guarantee your dragon slayer friend will hate you when he finds out," she promised.  
"H-he isn't going to find out."

The woman didn't answer, just smirked as she turned to the man who had run in. "Amey, Lee's back."  
"Perfect," she beamed, clapping her hands lightly. "Tell him to come quickly."  
"Lee?" Iris questioned, feeling her head spin.  
She nodded, "he's an old friend of yours, I believe."

Iris couldn't believe her eyes as Lee, her Lee, emerged from the door way. His looks hadn't changed at all in the past week, but everything had changed for Iris. Her whole world had changed. "Lee?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lee completely ignored Iris as he entered the room. He walked right over to Amey and stood by her side. "They've been dealt with," he informed her, which made her grin.  
"Perfect! Everything's going according to plan, now, what is she here for?" Amey wondered.  
Lee turned to her, his eyes going to the lump on her head and then to the cuts around her wrists, before he looked her in the eye. "You need her, without her no one will ever have the power to pull off this plan."  
"What do I do then?"  
"Take her to the top," Lee said, "remember that thing I had you build?" She nodded. "You need her on there."

Amey nodded, clapping her hands lightly in excitement, "Uto, Arni, take her to the top floor."  
Iris didn't respond at all when two men undid the cuffs around her wrists, nor did she react when they dragged her off the floor towards the stairs. All along her thoughts were on Lee, the man she trusted her whole life. The man who had betrayed her. Her eyes were glued to him, only leaving him when her body was turned away as they went up the stairs. Not once did he turn to watch her leave.

The men took her to the top, which was just the roof really. Iris could see clearly where she was, but that didn't mean she recognised the place. The castle, which she soon labeled the building as, was surrounded by trees that were much taller than the building itself. She was led over to a contraption and was once again cuffed to something. This time to a pole, her back against it and arms down by her back. In that position, it might be possible for Iris to write something. If she just had the time...

"Let's get this thing finished, the world's waiting!" Amey announced, walking perfectly despite the size of her heels, Lee by her side. "What does it even do?"  
Lee motioned to the large, colourless, gem next to Iris. "That's a special rock, found in the northern regions of Earthland. It has the ability to drain the power from a single wizard, which is when it gains its colour."  
"So, we drain her powers?" Amey asked, "and then we can use it?" Lee nodded and moved towards Iris.

"I'll let you set up," Amey informed him, "I just need to take care of something." Then she left.  
Lee knelt down in front of Iris, who now refused to look at him. "Iris, I need you to trust me. If this goes wrong, then your life is at stake."  
"Why would you care?"  
"Iris, I care about you more than any other person in the world," Lee promised, "I love you like you're my own daughter, which is why I need to ask you something really important. If you don't want to do this, I won't do it."

Iris couldn't help but want to believe him, Lee was always the man she turned to when she needed help. He always seemed to know what to do. "Explain."  
"Amethyst is insane," Lee began. "She truly believes this world is hers. If she gets the opportunity there's no stopping her. She will take over and if anyone opposes her she'll kill them. In the end she'll end up destroying the world, because, as I said, she's insane."  
"Then why are you helping her?"

"I knew right from the beginning that she was after you. I took you because you were a Leith, so when she came along asking for a Leith because she'd heard some legend about them being powerful, I knew that I had to do something to make sure you stayed safe."  
"So what are my choices?"

"I can help you escape, we can leave this place and hide you from Amethyst. Or we can defeat Amethyst, but the problem is there will always be people after your power. You'd never be safe," he explained.  
"Where does the diamond come in?" Iris questioned, becoming restless. Surely Amey would be back soon.  
"The rock will absorb your powers and seal them there. Once sealed it will be impossible to gain access to them or use them for anything. She, nor any other person in the world, will be able to use your power."

"But I won't be able to use them either?"  
"No," Lee confirmed. "That's the problem."  
"What if you smash it?"  
"The power will be dispersed back into the land, making the ground around it thrive. I believe that's what happened here, that's why there are so many trees and such tall ones. How can a forest this dense and large be natural?" He wondered.

Iris shook her head, "I don't want that, I want to keep my magic."  
"But the whole world could be at stake, your life could be at stake-" Iris cut Lee off.  
"I don't care. It isn't fair that I lose all my magic just because some other people decide they want it for evil," Iris insisted. "Let me go, I want to leave."

Lee nodded, leaning towards her, when the _tap tap tap tap_ of heels returned. "Is everything ready?" Amey asked, followed by a man. The man looked like Amey in many ways. His hair was the same purple and he had Amey's grey eyes and harsh features.  
"This is my brother, Helio," Amey smiled at Lee, "he's an expert in anything that involves stealing magic from someone."  
Lee nodded, suddenly feeling anxious. "Wonderful, this should be easier then."  
Helio nodded and turned to his sister, whispering something in her ear. She nodded in reply. "I like the sound of that. Lee step back."

Lee looked uncertain, but he stepped away from Iris anyway, who felt more afraid by the minute. Helio knelt in front of Iris, his hands out, when there was a loud shout.  
"Leave her alone!" Natsu shouted, running towards the group.  
"Lee deal with him," Amey ordered.

Lee ran at Natsu, who threw a fireball at Lee. He dropped to the floor, missing the fire, and jumped back up. He wrapped his arms around Natsu, flipping him over and pinning him to the ground. "He's going to kill her," Lee whispered, his voice urgent. "He's going to steal her magic and kill her, and that's just the beginning."  
"Why are you telling me this?" Natsu demanded, "and why should I believe you?"  
"Because Iris is my family and I've done so much to protect her that I can't lose her now."

Natsu thought back to the first time he saw Iris, the way she struggled against his arms to get to Lee. He wasn't related to her by blood, but he was still her family, and clearly the feeling went both ways.  
"I'll save her, don't worry," Natsu promised.  
Lee nodded, "I'll pretend to be wounded, then when I get the chance and they're distracted I'll run in." Natsu nodded and faked a punch, Lee threw himself off Natsu, laying up the floor pretending to be unconscious.

"He used to be a guildmaster?" Amey questioned, "no wonder the guild got captured. I'll handle him. Helio, you do it."  
Helio nodded clamping his hands down on Iris's shoulders, who immediately began to scream. The pain was unbearable, like hundreds of volts of electricity running through her body. Like her whole body was being burned from the inside out. Not once had she felt something as painful as that.

"Stop it!" Natsu shouted, throwing a punch and fire at Amey, who just about dodged it. Already her hair was falling out.  
"Trust me, dragon slayer, the world is better off without her."  
"Argh!" Natsu ran at her, kicking her hard in the ribs and knocking her over. "No it isn't."  
"How would you know?" Amey demanded. "Do you know anything about her past?" Natsu opened his mouth. "She was part of a dark guild, dragon slayer, do you really think her past is clean?"

Natsu struggled to listen to her words with Iris's screams so loud. But Amey was still in his way. "Everyone makes mistakes."  
"But not as terrible as hers," Amey said. "No good can come from a person who's done the things she has." Natsu threw her out the way and she went without a fight. "You can try to save her, dragon slayer, but she's already gone." That didn't stop Natsu from making his way towards Iris and Helio. "She's murdered children." That stopped him. "Because of a job request, she killed a group of children. How can you save someone as terrible as that?"

Natsu listened to the tortured screams, the loudest sound he'd ever heard from Iris, and he knew that he had to help her. "Can't you see what's she's doing? She's here to save children. That's one step towards redeeming herself."  
"Idiot!" Amey screamed, watching as Natsu got closer and closer to her brother. "Helio!"  
He turned towards Natsu, dodging his attack and one hand came off Iris's shoulder.

The pain lessened and Iris tried to think of something she could so to help. But she was still cuffed, what could she do? Her fingers rubbed in the dirt beneath them, feeling the dampness in it. When had it rained? She wasn't sure, but she had to take advantage of this moment she had. As quick as she could, she began to write. T.I.M.E

Everything around her froze, in front of her she saw Natsu and Helio stuck mid-punch, Natsu's fist millimeters away from Helio's face. She began to move, knowing she didn't have much time... She jumped when she felt a pair of hands at her back.

"It's me," Lee said, "I knew a girl with the same power as you a long time ago."  
"What happened to her?" Iris asked, standing up as the cuffs came off.  
"She created this forest." Lee gave her a sad smile, and took Iris's hand, pulling her from the fight. "How much longer do you have?"  
"Not long," she replied, before time started moving again. Immediately, Iris collapsed. Her body was weak and her eyes could barely stay open.

Lee shook his head, "Helio drained you of a lot of magic." Iris tried to speak, but was silenced by Lee, who laid her head on his lap. "It's still in your body, it just has a strong connection to him right now. He can use your magic at will."  
Iris tried to speak once again, but Lee shushed her. "There's only one thing left to do now, Iris. I'm sorry." He leaned down, kissing the top of Iris' head, before resting her head on the ground and he stood up.

"No!" Iris tried to raise her voice, but only a whisper came out.  
Lee couldn't look at her, it killed him to do this, but he had to. If he didn't, everyone would die. He placed his hand on the gem, closing his eyes and picturing Iris clearly in his mind, before starting it.

Natsu found it odd that, in the middle of his fight with Helio, Helio's strenght started getting lower and lower. While at first Natsu struggled to land a hit, it was now easy. He knocked him out quickly and turned to find Iris, who was led up the floor. "Iris!" He shouted, sprinting over to her and kneeling down. "Are you okay?"

Iris wasn't looking any good, she was a sickly white colour and looked so frail. Her eyes didn't look as bright as usual and her hair didn't look as vibrant.  
"She'll be fine," Lee reassured him, looking sick and disappointed. "She just need to rest."  
"What did you do?" Iris whispered, shocking them both.  
"I'm so sorry," Lee apologised, his voice choked up. "I didn't want to."  
"You said I had a choice."  
"I'm sorry."

Natsu looked confused. "What did you do?"  
Lee turned to look at the gem, which now had a colour; it was bright purple. "Iris no longer has magic."  
"What! Why not?" Natsu demanded.  
"It was the only way to stop Helio and Amey from using her powers," he explained feebly. "There was no other choice." Natsu looked angry.  
"Your only choice was to rob her of her magic? That wasn't your choice to make in the first place!"  
"I know," he whispered, looking away from everyone. From there he refused to speak.

The three of them sat there and soon guards showed up. Natsu had sent Happy to fetch someone, and the flying cat had done his job well. Once Helio and Amey were confined, Natsu stood up with Iris in his arms. Iris's eyes were closed, but she answered Natsu's questions so that he knew she was awake.

Natsu followed the guards back through the forest, trailing behind them slightly. "Natsu." By now Natsu was used to Iris's quiet voice, but he still heard her screams echoing in his mind. "Yeah?"  
"Amey, s-she said something to you about my past."  
"Yeah, she did."  
"About the kids?"  
Natsu sighed, "yeah."

Iris wanted to cry, she didn't want to lose her magic and friends all at once. "I-"  
"Don't worry about it. Just focus on putting it right and redeeming yourself. Regret and pity won't do you any good."  
Iris made a humming noise. "But I don't have magic, how can I do anything now?"  
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. But in the meantime, let's get you home and rested, sound good?"  
Iris nodded, turning her head to hide her face in his chest. Despite his words, she still wanted to cry. But she knew that this point in time wasn't the right time to sort her problems out. That would come in the future. So, in a normal Iris fashion, she pushed all her problems and worries away and rested.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Fairy Tail was full of life as usual. Everyone spoke loudly, trying to make their voices louder than the everyone else's. Mirajane hurried around, passing out drinks and being her usual sweet self, and a group stood by the door, ready to see their friend off.

Iris stood in front of her friends with a huge smile on her face. She and Lucy had gone out and brought her a whole new wardrobe, so Iris now had her own clothes. Today she wore a pair of black jeans and a loose, blouse. Underneath she wore a white vest top, since the blouse was see through. Her purple hair was pinned back with a pretty clip Wendy had given her. "Thank you," she smiled, her eyes scanning over the group around her. Lucy, Grey, Erza, Wendy and Carla. Iris wondered where Natsu and Happy had run off to. "Thank you for all the support you've given me over the past few weeks." Adjusting to a magic-less life had been difficult, but her friends had made it so much easier for her.

Lucy grinned, "you're family. Of course we'd help you." Iris didn't understand why Makarov let her join the guild, she wasn't a wizard. But he did and Iris was so glad he did. Wendy gave her a hug, "are you sure you'll be okay?"  
"Don't worry about me," Iris said, returning the hug. "It's not like I'm alone."  
Erza nodded, "she'll have Natsu with her, I doubt he'll let anything happen to her."

"Speaking of, where is Fire Breath?" Grey wondered, wincing when he heard a loud shout.  
"Found him," Lucy replied with a giggle.  
Iris rolled her eyes, before cupping her hands and putting them in front of her mouth. "Oi! Flame Princess! Get over here!"  
"Hey!" Natsu scowled when he got to them, shoving Iris. "You really need to spend less time with Grey."

Iris laughed, "no, you need to be more prepared. You ready to go?"  
Natsu nodded, "yeah, I just had to speak to Gramps. Lee's with him, if you want to talk to him."  
Iris shook her head. Sure, Fairy Tail had made it easier to get over the incident, but she still felt some betrayal every time she saw her old guild master. "I'm not ready. Not yet."  
"I understand."

"Can we really not tell her yet?" Clyde asked, his voice almost a whine. "She's got over her big challenge, shouldn't she know now?"  
"Look at her," Makarov ordered, watching how Iris laughed with her friends. "She still has so much of her past to put at ease. Before she works on moving forwards, she needs to let go of all of it."

"She wouldn't need to let go of it if someone had left her with her family," Clyde muttered.  
"Lee saved your daughter's life," Makarov reminded, "Amethyst and Helio would have killed her if she stayed here. She would have been much easier to find."  
Clyde looked at Lee who had remained with them, despite how awkward he felt at times.  
Lee looked sad. "I didn't want her to hurt so many people, I was trying to appease the guild."

Makarov stopped anyone from replying to that. "Can't you see how she's fixing it all? With or without magic, Iris is fixing her issues." Everyone supported Iris's plan once she first told them. Not one person thought it was a bad idea. Nor did they oppose when Natsu offered to go with her. The three of them, Happy included, were going to go around helping everyone they came across, but mainly children. Once Iris saved enough money, she planned on opening up homes for children to live in. For anyone to go to when they were in need. A guild of her own that offered nothing but help.

Iris and Natsu waved goodbye to their friends, promising to keep in touch any way they could. Happy flew next to them. The sun was high in the sky and the weather perfect, a good start for the beginning of their adventure. As the two walked out the guild, Iris's stamp was clear on the back of her left shoulder blade; a purple Fairy Tail mark, clearly stating that she was a part of the guild. She planned on keeping it that way for a very long time.


End file.
